Kombinierte
by Candles In The Snow
Summary: Harry had a feeling that his third year at Hogwarts was going to be very exciting. After all, what's a year without mass murderers after you, soul-sucking guards at every exit on the grounds, a werewolf for a teacher and a secret map that shows you everyone and everything in Hogwarts. Oh, and he couldn't forget one important thing... Having his father back, but as someone else.
1. Chapter 1

**_Hey guys! Guess who's back with another one!_**

**_I know I should be working on my other fics... But I couldn't help writing this one! I intend to write a story for each of the Holy Trinity (And Zack!) Being in the Wizarding World, so... Here's another one! Which one, I cannot tell... You'll just have to read and find out!_**

**_MANY thanks to my lovely and wonderful Beta, _DarkIceAngelFlare. _Who has helped lots and lots with this fic! Thanks~!_**

**_Hope you all enjoy this story! I'll see you all again soon with chapters for _"Rot, Braun und Silber", _"_I'm A What?" (Also known as "We're Where?") _and this one!__  
><em>**

**_Enjoy!_**

**_~Snow._**

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><p><strong><em>I don't own Harry Potter or FFVII! I wish I did though... Oh what could have happened... Like Zack living...<em>**

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><p>Ever since James Potter could remember, something always had seemed off, seemed missing, as if a gaping hole existed within his very soul.<p>

When he was young, he hadn't understood why. His parents were rich, he was an only child of an older couple (so he sometimes wondered if he subconsciously wanted a younger sibling), he lived in a mansion and could fly on his broom anytime he wanted - if he wasn't grounded, of course.

As time passed, James slowly learned how to ignore the hole in his soul and continued on with his life as if nothing was wrong. He pranked his parents and played by himself or with one of his parent's house elves.

Then came his eleventh birthday and the arrival of his Hogwarts letter. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a place that every pureblood – and most half-bloods – looked forward to going to. His parents – Charlus and Dorea Potter – took him to Diagon Alley a few days after receiving it. James had been there plenty of times before, but this time… there seemed to be something even more magical than normal to the alley.

He had barely been able to persuade his mother to get him a large trunk with at least four compartments. When his mother had asked why he'd need them, he rather happily told her they were for books (which pleased the Potter matriarch, who had a deep love of reading).

Though his good luck didn't last, as she hadn't let him buy as many books as he wanted – giving him a limit of twenty.

James grumbled for a good half-hour before cheering up when his father had taken them to the Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor for lunch and let him get a large bowl of his favorite black raspberry ice cream with chocolate chunks in it.

Afterwards it had been off to get the rest of his supplies and then finally, the one thing James had been looking forward to most – a wand.

Ollivander's had been unsurprisingly quiet and James had looked around in awe, watching as the slight, almost unnoticed colors of magic seemed to radiate off of everything in the store. His father's hand on his shoulder had drawn him out of his thoughts as Charlus had cheerfully told Ollivander that it was time for him – James – to get his first wand.

"Do you mean I'll get another when I've finished Hogwarts or something?" James had asked without thinking, his dark brows furrowing in confusion before he pouted when his parents – and Ollivander –chuckled at his question.

It seemed to take hours – but in reality had only been perhaps one – before James had finally found his own wand: mahogany, eleven inches with a unicorn tail core. Ollivander had told him it was a good wand for Transfiguration.

After thanking the man happily and paying for the wand, James had eagerly darted out of the shop and followed his parents back to the Leaky Cauldron, where they had Floo-ed back to Potter Manor.

The next few weeks found James pouring over his Hogwarts books. Eagerly taking in everything he could about what he'd be learning over the year, he tried a few spells on his own, managing to successfully casting a levitation charm and unlocking charm. He'd already found History of Magic dull.

When it had finally come to September First, James had gotten up three hours earlier than was necessary and, after finding himself unable to fall back asleep, he decided to get up. Climbing out of bed, bare feet padded over to the doorway as he pulled his bathrobe over his pajamas. Opening his bedroom door, James quickly looked around the corridor. Seeing that the coast was clear, James began what had become a habit during the last few years: an early morning jog.

He started by jogging down the long corridors for about fifteen minutes before slowing to a decently-paced walk which continued for another ten minutes before turning around and running for another twenty back to his bedroom

Mumbling a metal list of his things to himself as he went through his trunk, James made sure he had everything before shutting the lid of the trunk and locking it. Grabbing the handle, James dragged his new trunk out of his bedroom and down the hallway, silently reminding himself once again to thank his father for putting the Feather-Light charm on the trunk.

As he made his way into the dining room a few minutes later, James noticed that his parents were already up and eating breakfast.

"Someone's eager," Charlus teased, looking up from his paper, blue eyes glanced at the trunk in James' hand. "I was wondering when you would join us, James."

Flushing, James ducked his head in embarrassment while Charlus chuckled, motioning for James to leave the trunk and join them for breakfast.

"Don't listen to him," Dorea lightly patted the top of James' head as he sat down before starting to fuss over his hair. "Your father was up long before you were on his first day of school, as your grandmother used to tell me."

Seeing the surprised look on his father's face, James giggled.

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><p>James looked out of the window of the Hogwarts Express, his legs swinging as he grinned eagerly. He was going to Hogwarts! Finally going to Hogwarts!<p>

The messy-haired eleven-year-old was currently sharing his compartment with two others. One was a dark-haired boy with grey eyes that was the same age of him, looking a bit sulky as he looked out the window too. The other one was a girl with red hair and emerald green eyes that made James' heart skip a beat. He found that he loved that shade, but it confused him as to why.

For ages, he had hated the color green, because of reoccurring nightmares that had the color in it. But her eyes... They were nothing like the acid, sickly green from his dreams.

It wasn't long into their trip when the door to the compartment opened and an eleven year-old with greasy long hair and a hook nose entered. Something happened and before he knew it, the dark-haired boy and greasy-haired boy were arguing and the girl was tugging on the greasy-haired boy's - Severus, James thought his name was, having heard the girl murmur the name - arm, muttering to him quickly.

James stayed skilfully silent, watching as the compartment door was once again thrown open by the hook-nosed boy and the dark-haired boy was glaring after him while the girl was pleading for Severus to just leave it alone and for them to leave the compartment.

"See you around, Snivellus," the dark haired eleven-year-old sneered as the hook-nosed boy disappeared, dragging the pretty redhead with him.

The dark-haired boy turned to face James - who had looked over at the window moments before, pretending he hadn't been watching the fight - and he flushed faintly.

"Sorry about that," the boy murmured and James shook his head.

"It's fine."

The boy opened his mouth to say something else, but they were interrupted by the compartment door opening again, this time by a young witch pushing a trolley full of different candies.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?"

James and the boy jumped up immediately. Shooting each other surprised glances, they started to giggle before ordering several different sweets. Ten minutes later, they found themselves lounged on the seats, eating the sweets they had bought while chatting happily about different Quidditch teams.

"I nearly forgot! I'm Sirius Black," Sirius introduced himself, offering his hand while grinning crookedly at James whose eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Black? My mother was a Black," James said cheerfully, "I'm James Potter." He reached over, grasping the other's outstretched hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Heir Black," he added, mocking his father's usual stiff, formal tone.

Hearing Sirius' laugh, for the first time in ages, feeling the hole in his soul slowly start to heal, he knew that this would be the start of a wonderful friendship.

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><p>A thirteen year-old James Potter grinned darkly as he stood over Sirius' bed, his fingers twirling his wand lazily as he pondered which spell would be best to wake up the white sheep of the Black family.<p>

His fingers paused as James decided and, giving a flick of his wrist, James said clearly, "Aguamenti."

A yelp of shock echoed around the third-year Gryffindor dorm room as Sirius bolted out of bed and dived underneath Remus Lupin's – one of their best friends.

"James!" Sirius growled, grey eyes blinking tiredly as his best friend roared with laughter, having to lean against one of the posts to keep himself from falling over.

"Yes, Sirius?" James tried – and failed – to look innocent, tucking his wand into his back pocket while looking away. His lips were twitching at the corners as he fought to keep a smile off of his face.

"I am going to strangle you!" Sirius launched himself at James, who took off running.

Sighing, Remus Lupin watched the two in amusement as he sat on his bed, his sandy-blonde hair falling in front of his eyes as he ducked his head slightly, burying his nose into his Defence Book. However, his mind was far from the book in front of him.

You see, Remus Lupin was a werewolf, something that his best friends – Sirius, James and Peter Pettigrew – didn't know. The full moon would be that night, thus, he needed a new excuse to disappear for the next few days.

Perhaps he could use the excuse that his mother was ill… Wait, he had used that one last month.

Lips curved downwards into a worried frown. Remus was terrified of his friends finding out about the fact he was a werewolf. He was afraid of them abandoning him. Part of him, some small part that had been awakened after his first transformation, knew that they wouldn't, that they were the same as they used to be, a lifetime ago.

"Earth to Remus!"

Brown eyes blinked in surprised as Remus looked up from his book, nearly jumping back in surprise at seeing Sirius sitting in front of him, a large grin on his face.

"What were you so deep in thought about, Remmy?" James asked, sitting next to Sirius while Peter was watching from his own bed.

"O-Oh? Just worried about my uncle. He's gotten sick and my mom wants me to come and visit him, since he hates practically everyone but me," Remus stuttered out, looking away from his friends.

"Your uncle?" Raising a brow, Sirius exchanged a look with James. "Don't you mean sneaking off to the tunnel under the Whomping Willow with Madame Pomfrey where you change into a werewolf?"

Remus almost choked as his eyes widened and in one leap he had jumped from his bed and fled towards the door, only to be followed by Sirius and James, both grabbing Remus' wrists.

"Remus! Calm down! We're not mad nor do we hate you!" Sirius yelped, nearly sighing as Remus froze.

"We don't care that you're a werewolf!" James added, letting go of Remus' wrists when he was certain that the teenager wouldn't flee. Sirius followed suit.

"So you don't mind?" Remus asked hesitantly, unwilling to believe what the two in front of him were saying.

"Nope!" Sirius said cheerfully. Skipping over to his bed, he grabbed a box from on top of his trunk before plopping onto the end of the mattress. He then tossed the Chocolate Frog box at the startled werewolf.

"Why would we care if you have a furry little problem once a month? You're still the annoying, book-reading, honor-lecturing brat we all know and love," James teased, ducking the swat to the head Remus had aimed at him.

"Where did honor-lecturing come from?" Remus asked, slowly making his way back to his bed while opening the box, snagging the frog mid-jump and biting off its head.

"Dunno," James shrugged, jumping onto his own bed and grinned widely.

"This gives us a perfect reason to break the law too!" he said cheerfully and Sirius nodded seriously.

"The law!? Why in Merlin's name would you break the law!?" Remus gaped at James and Sirius.

Smirking, James tilted his head to the side just faintly. "Remus, tell me… Have you ever heard of Animagi?"

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><p>"That wasn't very honorable," Remus muttered from the shadows, causing a surprised fifteen year-old James Potter to jump, his head snapping around to see Remus leaning against the wall of the second floor corridor.<p>

"He called Lily a Mudblood," James argued softly, shifting guiltily underneath Remus' disapproving gaze, unable to meet the werewolf in the eye. "I know it was my fault that he called her that in the first place... But he didn't need to act like that."

"James..." Remus sighed. "You two need to grow up and at least try to make amends. Maybe then Lily will start seeing you in a better light."

James gave a soft snort. "Yeah, right..." A sad smile spread across his face. "I'll be lucky if she ever even wants to see my face again..."

Giving his friend a pitying look, Remus just shook his head and straightened up.

"Try at least. First though... Go and undo that hex. I don't think Lily would be happy if she found out that you're the one who made Severus break out into pimples that read 'DEATH EATER' on his forehead."

"Yeah... I'll go do that, tomorrow."

"James! Now."

"Yes,_ Mum_."

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><p>Sweat dripped down his cheeks as James paced around the small apartment that he was currently staying the night at.<p>

He had had that nightmare again, the one in which he was drowning in acid-like green liquid, everything burned and a woman screamed angrily in his ears.

It had been years since he had gotten that nightmare, not since he had met Remus and Sirius. Those two were miracles! Just being with them helped patch up the hole in his soul. It wasn't fully healed yet, though it was getting there.

Sighing, James glanced at the clock on the wall and groaned. He knew that he better get to bed otherwise he'd be half-asleep tomorrow and Lily would kill him.

After all, they were getting married tomorrow.

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><p>"James? Are you listening?" Lily asked, waving a hand in front of her dumbfounded husband's face, her eyebrow raised as the dark-haired wizard blinked slowly.<p>

"You're pregnant?" James repeated what his wife had told him just a few moments ago. His hazel eyes widened behind dark-framed glasses as his jaw dropped. "I-It's mine, right?" he asked stupidly.

Green eyes rolled while the corners of her lips twitched upwards faintly. "Yes, James, it's yours, you git," Lily said fondly.

A foolish grin spread across James' lips and he launched himself at his wife – shocking her – and gathered her in his arms, whirling her around.

"James! Put me down!" Lily protested, clutching at James as he slowed to a stop, unable to stop grinning as he kissed the redhead excitedly.

"I'm going to be a Dad!"

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><p>James paced worriedly in the waiting room of Saint Mungo's. He had been kicked out of the delivery room by one of the Medi-Witches after he had fainted the second time. Biting his nails, he really missed the calming presence of Remus – who was undercover currently.<p>

"Jamie, settle down! You know how tough your wife is. They'll be fine!" Sirius called from the chair he was sitting in, though he too was starting to get worked up – mostly from James' pacing.

"I can't, Sirius," James nearly whined, tapping his fingers against his arms as he repeatedly glanced at the door to the waiting room. "And you don't know that! What if something did happen?! What if s-" He was cut off as a Medi-Witch entered the room.

"Mr. Potter?" she asked, her lips giving a faint twitch at seeing the young man pacing jumped nearly five feet into the air before rushing over to her.

"Are they okay? Are they alive? Are-" James was cut off as the Medi-Witch silenced him.

"Both Mrs. Potter and the baby are fine. Would you like to see them?"

James nodded eagerly, unable to speak as he followed the Medi-Witch.

When they arrived at the room, Lily was smiling as she held the small bundle in her arms. "James, come say hello to our son," Lily spoke softly, not looking up from their son.

Making his way slowly over to the bed, James peered down at the small baby in Lily's arms. He had a tuft of dark, fuzzy hair and reddish skin. The blue eyes that peered up at him held a hint of green.

Shakily sitting down in the chair next to Lily's bed, he accepted the small bundle that was their son from Lily's arms.

James gave a watery laugh as he carefully held his son in his arms, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes as he smiled widely.

"Welcome to the world, Harry."

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><p>The evening of October thirty first, Harry's second Halloween, found James Potter draped lazily across the couch, his wife in the other room writing a letter to Sirius.<p>

The messy-haired man was making colored smoke rings with his wand to entertain Harry, who was sitting on the floor directly in front of the couch.

James smiled brightly as Harry clapped his hands cheerfully, the baby giggling brightly as he reached out to the smoke rings.

"Alright, time for little Bambi to get to bed," Lily said as she entered the living room, a soft smile on her face as she looked down at her husband and son.

"Aww, Lily!" James pouted childishly up at his wife, who gave him a stern look, before pouting. "Fine," he sighed, standing up. He left his wand on the couch while scooping Harry into his arms. "C'mon, Bambi."

He moved to take Harry to the nursery, determined to talk his wife into letting him read at least one Muggle fairytale to his son before bed.

Suddenly, one of the alarms for the wards went off and the whole house seemed to shake for a moment.

Paling rapidly, James shoved Harry into Lily's arms, startling the redheaded witch.

"Lily! Take Harry and go! It's him! Go! I'll hold him off!" James yelled at his wife, his hand reaching for the wand on the couch as the door blew open and a figure stepped inside.

A sneer curved the Dark Lord's lips as red eyes followed the disappearing figure of Lily Potter as she fled to the nursery before those eyes focused on the man in front of him.

"Foolish wizard," Voldemort sneered. "Fighting without a wand? You're as defenceless as a Muggle."

With that, the Dark Lord raised his wand and uttered the two words that would end James Potter's life.

Hazel eyes widened in shock as green light flew at him from the tip of Voldemort's wand and the world seemed to slow before stopping as memories flew through his mind. Flashing before his eyes was his first life.

James Potter's blood ran cold as time sped back up when the flashes ended and he was hit with the Killing Curse.

Body falling to the floor, a hand reached weakly towards where his wife had ran to with their child before his soul returned once more to the Lifestream. There, pressured by the grief and sudden return of another lifetime of memories, his mind shattered.

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><p>Time passed differently in the Lifestream.<p>

Sephiroth had found that out the first time that he had been killed.

Time that seemed like seconds in the Lifestream could be hours, days, weeks, months or even years. And time that seemed like years, months, weeks, days or hours could merely be seconds. This time, time passed slowly for the man as he slowly pieced together his mind once again, sorting out his memories of Sephiroth from his memories of James.

He remembered making the deal with Minerva – the Goddess – to be allowed to have a second chance at life, to repent for the sins of his first. He had been pleased and surprised by the deal she had offered and had taken it at once. Sephiroth should've known, though, that the Goddess would throw him for a loop and send him to a time where his soul would exist in a different body.

Growing up as a Pureblood, James knew of the rare instances of time travel, but this was different. He hadn't known that his soul existed someplace else and if he hadn't been careful, he might've met his other self.

Thank Gaia he didn't.

Also, there was the fact that Angeal and Genesis had been reborn too: Angeal as Remus Lupin, while Genesis was Sirius Black.

He should've known. Well, he would've if he had remembered before he had died.

The way that Remus acted was too similar to Angeal, a gentle but strong man, and Sirius… Well, it seemed that his flamboyancy and ego followed him to another lifetime.

Sighing in the Lifestream, Sephiroth reached out, looking for souls he knew. He couldn't sense Aerith or the Puppy, but he could sense his Remnants, and…. Sephiroth's blood ran cold and horror ran through his 'veins' as he sensed Lily in the Lifestream.

If he had a body, he would've been crying. As it was, he was coming the closest that he could.

Almost frantically, he began searching for his son and to his surprise yet relief, he couldn't find Harry's soul within the Lifestream, meaning that his son was still alive.

Though that relief was short lived as Sephiroth realized that – seeing as how they had just changed Secret Keepers – Genesis/Sirius would be arrested for 'handing them over' to Voldemort and he knew that within his grief, Sirius would blame himself and admit to 'killing' them.

With Angeal/Remus being a werewolf, he wouldn't be able to take Harry in thanks to Anti-Werewolf laws.

That left the Longbottoms, but unlike Lily and James, they hadn't been under the Fidelius Charm and would be found quickly, if they hadn't been already.

Changing his soul's signature back to James', Sephiroth begged Lily to tell him what she had done to protect Harry and to James' surprise – but Sephiroth's amusement – she had used Reflect upon their son.

How she knew it, Sephiroth didn't bother finding out as he left her alone.

Her soul had accepted peace in her death but his own soul was in turmoil. He didn't want to upset hers.

It took moments for Sephiroth to realize that Dumbledore would mistake Reflect for some sort of blood spell and anger burned in his stomach as he realized that his son – with no one else to take him in – would be left with Lily's sister.

Her sister who hadn't even talked to Lily since their wedding, who had hated Lily for everything she was and that Petunia would never be.

And he knew, _he knew_ that the horse-looking woman would take her anger out on his son, and that her whale of a husband would too, hating everything even slightly out of the normal.

He had to leave.

He needed to find his son and, without thinking, he started to force his body to reform – not James' but Sephiroth's – with the sole purpose of the need to find and protect the one thing that he had left to live for.

His son.

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><p>A hand reached out of the Mako pool deep inside of the Nibelheim Mountains. Fingers dug into the earth as the man pulled himself out of the pool, long hair and naked body drenched in deadly Mako.<p>

Coughing the Mako out of his lungs, the man stood a bit shakily on long legs as the liquid dripped off of his body.

Ignoring the deadly substance on his skin, the man shook his head, successfully shaking off a bit of the liquid from his hair and away from his face.

Raising a hand, he brushed the rest out of his eyes and they opened, revealing green irises just as glowing and bright as the Mako, pupils narrowed to slits and the man turned his head, lips curving downwards into a faint frown.

He still had JENOVA cells inside of him and as long as he was on the continent, Cloud would be able to find him, so first things were first. He needed to acquire clothes before he could even think of leaving.

Assuming he was near Nibelheim, seeing as the mountain had an abundance of Mako that very few places in the world had, that would be easy to do.

The next thing was to figure a way to get to England.

Wait…

Did he…?

Taking a breath, green eyes closed in concentration and a moment later a large black wing shot out of the man's back, flinging more deadly Mako off of his body and eyes opened again, a smirk on the man's lips.

There was that problem solved.

But he needed to hurry. He had to locate the one thing he had brought himself back for. Preferably before Voldemort – or Dumbledore – could sink their claws into his son further than what they had already.

"I'm coming," Sephiroth murmured quietly, expression determined as he strolled to where the little town would be located.

"Wait for me, Harry."

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><p><strong><em>And that's the chapter! Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of <em>"Kombinierte."_ Or, Combined in German!_**

**_Questions? Comments? Criticism? Give a Review! I love reading all of them! Except Flames... Flames are put in my fireplace to burn. :)_**

**_If you like this story so far, please Follow and Favorite!_**

**_Thanks for Reading! And once more, many thanks to my Beta, _DarkIceAngelFlare!**

_**See you all soon!**_

_**~Snow.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**MERRY CHRISTMAS!**_

_**Hope you all enjoy your Christmas present from me! :D Thank you all so much for the Reviews, Follows and Favorites! This got a lot more interest that I originally thought it would! Most people don't like James And/Or Lily comes back to life stories (I should know, I'm one of them most the time! haha.)**_

_**Anyways, hope all your Christmas' were great! See you all again soon with another chapter!**_

_**MANY thanks to my lovely and wonderful Beta, DarkIceAngelFlare!**_

_**See you all soon!**_

_**~Snow.**_

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><p><em><strong>I don't own Harry Potter or FFVII.<strong>_

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><p>Harry James Potter of Number Four, Privet Drive angrily stormed down the road. The nearly-thirteen-year-old gripped the handle of his trunk tightly, his mouth in a tight line as his magic rolled off him angrily in waves.<p>

How dare she? How dare Marge Dursley call his father a drunk and his mother a bitch? She didn't know the true story! His parents died protecting him from a mass-murdering mad-man, not in a car crash!

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Harry's anger slowly started to die down and panic started to settle in. He had used magic on a Muggle, not just near – but on.

Last time magic had been used in Number Four, Harry had gotten a letter from the Ministry of Magic telling him that if magic was used one more time that he would be expelled from Hogwarts. Was he expelled now?

Harry glanced down at the trunk in his hand as he walked. Was the law after him now? Were they going to snap his wand right in front of him?

Well… If he was expelled, surely it would be alright to put Feather-Light and Shrinking Charms on his trunk and ride his Nimbus 2000 to Diagon Alley while under his Invisibility Cloak. Right?

Pausing when he reached a park near Magnolia Crescent, he moved to sit on a bench that was under a street light, with a tree on the other side. The grass whistled softly as the cold night wind blew through it and Harry shivered, starting to regret storming out without putting a sweater or jacket on.

What was he going to do?

Emerald green eyes glanced around warily while the cool night air ruffled his messy dark brown hair. Harry paused at seeing a few bushes ahead of him move and his hand instinctively reached for his wand as he stood up.

A pair of grey eyes were watching him but when Harry tried to get a better look, he found himself tripping over a root and he moved his hands to catch himself when a pair of cold, soft hands caught him instead.

Green eyes blinked in surprise as he was helped to his feet.

"Are you alright?" a low, smooth tone asked and Harry nodded, looking at his 'rescuer' and found himself staring at the man in surprise.

The man who had saved him from falling couldn't have been much older than his mid-twenties with long silver hair that hung to his mid-calves and acid green eyes that had pupils much like a cat's. The shadows of bags underneath the stranger's eyes showed that the man hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in a long while and Harry noticed that the man's skin was rather cold.

Which he found a bit odd, seeing as how the man was wearing a black turtleneck sweater and long black – were they cargo pants or just something similar? – pants. The man was tall too, Harry noticed, very tall…

Those odd eyes blinked from behind dark lashes and Sephiroth tilted his head to the side slightly, observing the preteen boy – who was obviously his son, with those eyes that could only be Lily's – in front of him.

"What are you doing out here this late at night?" Sephiroth asked curiously, a brow raising. Lips curved downwards slightly at seeing his son's jaw tighten for a moment.

"I… I had an argument with my family," Harry lied, nearly having to choke out the word family. "I needed to cool off," he finished lamely, eyes glancing at the trunk near his feet.

"I see…" Sephiroth murmured, a faint frown on his lips. "So you live in the area then? Perhaps you could help me."

Seeing the confused look on the boy's face, Sephiroth explained. "I'm looking for my son, perhaps you know him? His name is Harry, Harry Potter."

Harry stilled and green eyes looked up at the man as a frown formed on his lips and he tried not to panic. Why was this man looking for him? James Potter was dead and even if he was alive, he didn't look like this man did, not in the photos he had seen, at least.

"I know him…" Harry began slowly and his frown deepened. "I thought his parents were dead…?"

"Oh they are, or rather, his mother is. I came back, not exactly as James Potter, but I am still him, Harry," Sephiroth replied and watched in faint amusement as his son leapt away from him.

Holding out his hands to show he was unarmed, Sephiroth let Harry speak.

"Liar! James Potter is dead! You can't be him!" Harry snarled, anger starting to gather in the pit of his stomach. His eyes flashed angrily as he held his holly and phoenix feather wand towards the fake.

"Harry… Have you ever heard of Wizard Oaths?" Sephiroth questioned, tilting his head to the side faintly while keeping his hands held out, palms forward.

"Yes..." Harry answered slowly. He had looked them up when his curiosity had gotten the better of him after he had overheard a few of the upper years discussing oaths. Green eyes watched the man as he kept one hand out and the other reached for a wand that was stowed in his pants pocket.

Carefully and slowly pulling the (stolen) wand out his pocket, Sephiroth held it up to his face.

"I, Sephiroth Grimoire Valentine, swear on my magic and life that I once was and currently am, Jamestown Charlus Potter, so mote it be," Sephiroth said clearly, feeling the magic of his oath wash over him before disappearing. He* silently cast a Lumos, letting the tip of the wand glow for a moment before he dismissed it with Nox.

"Y-You're…" Harry stuttered, his anger fading away as he watched Sephiroth – no… his father – lower the wand, the man watching him warily. "But how?" he finally managed to choke out.

Lips curved upwards into a faint, amused smile. "Think of a coin. You have two halves: they both look different, but they're still part of the same coin." Seeing the confused expression on Harry's face, Sephiroth tried again. "Or think of Transfiguration: you turn a match into a needle. It may be a needle now, but it always will have started out as a match."

Harry nodded slightly, understanding that much easier than the coin one.

Seeing the nod, Sephiroth started to explain. "I'm that match. I was born and raised as Sephiroth in one life and after I died I chose to start a new one, in which I became James Potter. As Sephiroth… You can say that I have a problem with dying; I seem to come back a lot. You apparently have inherited that habit."

He chuckled faintly, seeing the confused look on Harry's face. "And that's another story for another time. Simply put, I forced my body to reform and my soul out of death to come back, not an easy feat to do…"

"But…" Harry began hesitantly, his eyebrows furrowing. "Why…? Why did you come back?"

Sephiroth's gaze met Harry's and it softened. "I came back for you."

Sephiroth spoke softly, "My life wasn't a good one, Harry. I will spare you the horrid details for now, but I can honestly say that I grew up in a similar position to the one you're in. Hailed as a Hero to the public but used and abused at home…" Sighing softly, Sephiroth continued.

"I never thought once of having children; the thought of family was distant to me. I was created solely for fighting; I had no friends growing up and only a few as an adult. Before I died for the first of two times, my mind was invaded during a time of weakness and the parasite that invaded it left it destroyed."

A scowl found its way onto pale lips. "It continued to hold control over my mind after I was killed and it forced me to leave death to fight in its place five years later, after my mind had healed somewhat. I was luckily killed a few months later." 'By a Chocobo,' Sephiroth added silently, his lips twitching in faint amusement.

"I was offered a second chance shortly afterwards and I took it. I was reborn as James Potter and for once I had a good life. There was a hole in my soul though, that was slowly patched together over the years. But after you were born, it was like it never existed in the first place… I only realized this after I had died as 'James'," Sephiroth said fondly.

"It took me years to piece my mind back together after dying again and when I realized that you weren't dead, I sought out the soul of your mother. Lily told me what she had done to protect you and I realized what Dumbledore would mistake it as. That was when I realized that your life would be horrid," Sephiroth grit his teeth angrily before taking a breath and continuing.

"I came back because of you. I never had a family, James did. I don't know what it's like to be a father as I never had one and James' died when he was fourteen. But I want to try. I don't want to watch you suffer as I once did. You are my son. I want to protect you, help you, teach you, guide you. If you'll give me the chance," Sephiroth finished, staring down at the small, barely-teenager. Sephiroth's silver bangs were hanging in front of his face, a worried frown on his lips.

"Yes."

Eyes blinked. "Yes…?" Sephiroth asked, a hint of confusion in his tone.

Harry nodded. "Yes," he repeated as an excited smile slowly graced his lips. "I… I don't know how to be a son… But, I want to try too."

He never family before, not true family anyways (there was no way in hell that the Dursleys counted as family). This man – his father – had gone against Death's rules to be with him. He wasn't about to pass the chance up, even if the man wasn't exactly James Potter.

Sephiroth smiled softly, his muscles that had tensed when he had asked the question relaxing. He knew that there had been a chance that Harry would tell him no and he had been prepared to leave too. If Harry didn't want him, he wasn't about to impose himself upon the young wizard.

Seeing Harry shiver as the night wind blew again, Sephiroth's smile faltered.

"First thing I'll do as a father then is to get you someplace warm." Sephiroth chuckled as he saw – even in the slightly dim light – Harry's cheeks flush. "We'll go to the Leaky Cauldron for the night; first thing tomorrow we'll go to Gringotts and get things sorted out so I can be your official guardian."

"How will we get to London though?" Harry asked, rubbing his arms and Sephiroth pointed at the nearby street.

Sephiroth motioned for Harry to follow him as he grasped the handle of Harry's trunk. His lips twitched upwards slightly in amusement at seeing the surprised look on his son's face as he carried the trunk as if it weighed nothing – which it did feel like to him.

"I'm going to cast a spell called _Invisi_, I think you get the meaning of the spell," Sephiroth said dryly. "I'll follow you onto the Knight Bus and into the Leaky Cauldron, where you'll get a room for the night. To summon the Knight Bus, simply throw out your right arm over the road with your wand in hand."

Harry nodded, watching warily as Sephiroth vanished from sight and he jumped when a hand lightly placed itself on his shoulder, giving it a faint squeeze.

Taking a breath, Harry threw out his wand arm, wand in hand and he nearly jumped back when a loud crack-like sound was heard. Unable to do anything other than gape at the triple-decker purple bus, it was the conductor speaking that broke Harry out of his surprise.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, modern transport for the stranded Witch or Wizard. My name is Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor for this evening," a pimply, nineteen-year-old said, reading from the card in his hand before looking up and noticing Harry gaping at him.

"Wha' choo lookin' at?" Stan asked and Harry blinked before he shook his head.

"Nothing." Harry reached for the handle of his trunk, only to blink in surprise when it wasn't there. A light squeeze to his shoulder told him that Sephiroth had it.

"Well c'mon then. Haven't got all night you know," Stan scolded him lightly, shooing Harry onto the Knight Bus. "It's eleven sickles for the ride, thirteen if you want hot chocolate and fifteen if you want a hot water bottle and a tooth brush."

A hand squeezed Harry's shoulder again before lightly tapping against his back. Harry moved his hand behind him – pretending to be fishing out coins from his back pocket - as a hand pressed against Harry's and he closed his fingers after feeling the cold touch of coins against them.

Pulling his hand away from his back, green eyes peered down at the coins and he counted eleven sickles. "Just the ride. I'd like to go to the Leaky Cauldron that's in London," Harry said as he handed the sickles to Stan before looking around the bus, taking notice of the beds.

Sitting down on the nearest one – and ignoring the loud snores of the occupant of the bed next to it – Harry felt the hand on his shoulder disappear. Panic flared in his stomach for a moment before he felt the weight of someone sitting behind him and the hand returned, lightly giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Did'ya hear that Ernie? He wants to go to the Leaky Cauldron that's in London!" Stan grinned at the driver before flicking open the paper he had picked up while the bus suddenly lurched as it took off. Harry was certain that if it wasn't for the hand on his shoulder, he would've been sent flying off the bed. As it was, the bed had been sent flying backwards.

"Who's Sirius Black?" Harry asked curiously at seeing the headline of the paper and the hand on his shoulder tightened its grip almost painfully. Resisting the urge to wince, Harry looked at the stunned Stan.

"Who's Sirius Black? He's a murderer! Killed twelve Muggles and one Wizard in broad daylight. They say that the Aurors found him laughing hysterically after he killed them all, they say that Azkaban doesn't do anythin' ta him, that the Dementors are afraid of 'im." Stan said, looking at Harry curiously. "What'd you say yer name was?"

"Vincent," Harry replied instantly and he raised a brow faintly as the hand on his shoulder gave it a soft squeeze and a soft chuckle was heard by the brunette. Luckily, Stan didn't hear it.

"Well, Vincent," Stan looked at him seriously before leaning in, "they also say that Sirius Black was the right hand man to You-Know-Who." Harry would later swear that he heard Sephiroth snort softly at that. "You do know who that is?"

Harry smiled bitterly as the hand on his shoulder gave a soft squeeze. "Yeah," Harry's gaze flickered to where he assumed Sephiroth was sitting before he looked out the window. "Him I know."

* * *

><p>Both Harry and Sephiroth nearly sighed audibly in relief when the Knight Bus stopped outside of the Leaky Cauldron.<p>

Saying goodbye to Stan and Ernie, Harry made a bee-line for the doors to the Leaky Cauldron when a voice called out, "Harry, my boy."

Green eyes blinked and Harry turned to face the man who called out to him. Just a few feet away from where the Knight Bus had disappeared with another crack, was a man wearing expensive looking robes and a lime green bowler hat.

"Er…" Harry inched towards the door to the pub slowly.

"Let me introduce myself: I am Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic." The man smiled reassuringly, holding his hand out to Harry – who hesitantly took it and shook it. "I say, you gave us quite a scare when you disappeared from your Aunt and Uncle's tonight."

"Sorry, sir," Harry replied, panic welling up in his stomach again.

"No need to look so scared, Harry." The Minister chuckled. "Your Aunt Marge has been put right and her memory of the accident erased. Your Aunt and Uncle have agreed to take you back next summer, provided that you stay in Diagon Alley for the rest of the summer and stay at Hogwarts during the holidays."

"I believe that Tom should have your room ready by now," Fudge added. "I've asked him to keep an eye over you the summer. Now, I want you to know you're not allowed out of the Alley and you must stay away from the Muggle side."

Harry bit back the question as to why and instead asked, "Aren't I going to be punished?"

"Punished?" Fudge asked, looking like he had never been more horrified in his life. "Whatever for? It was just a bit of accidental magic."

"But last year, I got a notice that if magic was ever performed at Privet Drive again, that I'd be expelled." Harry frowned.

"My boy, we don't expel students just because of a little accidental magic," Fudge chortled.

Harry keenly kept his mouth shut and let the Minister place a hand on his shoulder – feeling Sephiroth move from one side to the other, his own hand placing itself back on Harry's other shoulder.

"Now, where's your trunk? Surely you didn't leave it behind or on the Knight Bus?" Fudge asked, looking around for the trunk as he led Harry towards the Leaky Cauldron.

As Harry quickly racked his brains for a lie, cold lips brushed against his ear and Sephiroth's voice breathed into his ear. "Tell him that you had a rune placed on your trunk last year to shrink it and that it's in your pocket."

"I got a rune placed on my trunk last year to shrink it, make it easier to move around you know? I shrunk it before I got on the Knight Bus," Harry lied easily, smiling brightly up at Fudge, as if he was looking for praise from the Minister.

A light squeeze to his shoulder was Sephiroth's way of showing his own approval.

"Very clever thing to do Harry! Very clever thing!" The Minister nodded as he opened the door to the pub and the hand on Harry's shoulder disappeared as Sephiroth moved past the other two easily, moving to stand away as Fudge clapped both hands to Harry's shoulders.

"And here's Harry, Tom!" the Minister told the owner of the pub, who smiled toothlessly.

"Hello, Mr. Potter, it's nice to see you again."

"Hello, Tom," Harry answered quietly, eyes scanning around, trying to see any movement that might tell him where Sephiroth was.

"If you'll lead him to his room, Tom, that would be great. I really need to be getting back to the Ministry now." Fudge nodded at the other man before turning to Harry. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Potter."

"It was nice meeting you too, Minister," Harry replied softly, watching as the man grabbed a pinch of Floo-Powder from a pot next to the fireplace and disappeared into the green flames.

Sephiroth's hand rested against Harry's shoulder again as they silently followed Tom up the steps and down the hallway. Tom bid him – Harry – goodnight after assuring Harry that he would be comfortable in the room.

Watching Tom leave, Harry turned towards the door with the number '7' on it. Opening the door with the key that the old bartender had handed him, Harry stepped inside.

A large, four-poster bed stood in the middle of the room, dressed in what looked to be soft sheets and blankets. A mirror hung over a fireplace on the wall opposite the headboard of the bed, with a fire crackling inside of the fireplace. A door stood on Harry's right, most likely leading to the bathroom.

Sephiroth dropped the_ Invisi_ when he heard Tom step onto the floor downstairs. Pushing his bangs back with one hand, Sephiroth carried Harry's trunk over to the foot of the bed with the other and carefully deposited it onto the ground.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Sephiroth motioned for Harry – who was still standing by the door – to join him. "I'm assuming that you have several questions for me, as I have for you." It wasn't a question, merely a statement.

Harry nodded anyways, hesitantly moving towards the bed. He sat on the edge, a few feet away from Sephiroth.

Acid green eyes blinked slowly and Sephiroth's head tilted to the side slightly as he observed his son. "Let's play something akin to Twenty Questions then." Pale lips curved upwards slightly. "We'll take turns asking and answering questions. You may ask the first one."

Finally able to ask the question he had been dying to get a straight answer to, Harry asked, "I know you told me that you forced your body to reform and your soul out of death, but how did you do it?"

Sephiroth let out a soft sigh. "I figured that you would ask that question first," he murmured before answering. "I suppose I should start with explaining a few other things first. Tell me, Harry, have you ever heard of Gaia?"

"Do you mean the Greek Goddess?" Harry asked curiously.

Shaking his head, Sephiroth chuckled faintly. "No, I mean the small group of continents." Seeing the confused look on Harry's face, he smirked. "I'll take that as a no, then. Which doesn't surprise me, as very few outside of Gaia know of its existence."

The silverette mused on where to begin for a few moments before taking a deep breath. "Over ten thousand years ago, Gaia existed alongside the rest of the world. Gaia is a group of continents and islands that are located rather close together," he explained.

"Gaia has things that no other continent on the Planet has, such as Mako and Materia. Mako is the life-force of the Planet. Think of it as the blood of the Planet; it can be harvested and there are cuts on the surface of the Planet that makes it bleed the Mako. If harvested too much at once or over a short period of time, then the Mako won't have a chance to replenish itself and will dry out."

"Materia is created by the streams of Mako from the cuts on the surface. Materia is very similar to Magic." Sephiroth pushed up the sleeve of his sweater, showing the bangle he was wearing; small marble-sized glowing orbs were placed inside slots in the bangle.

Long fingers pulled one of the marbles out and played with it. "There are several different types of Materia. Some can give you control of certain elements, such as Fire and Ice, while others can help you with healing or teach you different kinds of attacks. There are a few that can help increase your health or even see your enemy's health and statuses," Sephiroth explained, tossing the small marble to Harry.

"Try to sense it and tell me: what can you feel?"

Looking down at the small, green marble in his hand, Harry rolled it across his palm as he tried to focus, tried feeling for the magic he could sense and see around it. "It feels like…" he struggled to make sense of it, "Like power? Lots of it… Surging? Looking for some sort of outlet…"

"Very good." Sephiroth smiled, holding his hand out for the Materia, which Harry handed back. Slipping the marble back into the bangle, he let the Thunder crackle between his fingers, small lightning bolts jumping from finger to finger.

"That was Thunder, one of the lower level Materia. Now, as I was saying, Gaia is plentiful in Materia and Mako, something that made the other continents and their inhabitants very jealous. Only those born in or whose ancestors are from Gaia can control Materia."

"Mako though, acts as a fertilizer for the earth, causing crops to be bountiful and full. Jealousy is never a good thing, Harry. Those in charge of other continents met together and they raged war on Gaia, conquering it before turning on each other, wanting full control of the bountiful continents."

"For years war raged on, different people joining in the war and others leaving it. The Planet is alive, Harry. Though she only speaks to very few of her chosen people. Tired of the wars being fought over her special – and in a way holy – land, she closed the small group of continents off and placed special barriers between her land and the rest of the Planet."

"Those barriers keep people from outside of them plotting where the locations of where Gaia is on a map, while people from the inside can do as they please. Unfair, I know, but it's the way it has been for thousands of years and we haven't had a war with the outside since." Sephiroth shrugged before continuing.

"While the barriers keep things from this Planet out of Gaia, it doesn't seem to keep other things from off this Planet out of it. Over two thousand years ago a creature fell to Gaia from the stars and raged war against us, wanting to use this Planet to sail the cosmos once more."

"The Goddess created WEAPONS to bind the parasite. The Goddess called upon her special people, who are called Cetra, to bind its powers and put it to sleep, hiding it away…" Sephiroth's expression turned grim.

"The company I worked for uncovered the parasite and, thinking that it was a Cetra, who were rare to find, it was wrongly labeled as one and used for scientific research. The company is called Shin-Ra Power and Electric Company," he added.

"Shin-Ra wanted to create its own Super Soldiers, which they later called SOLDIER, short for Special, Operations, Logistics, Demolitions, Infiltration, Enforcement, Reconnaissance."

Harry listened in shock, awe and a bit of horror as Sephiroth told him about Professor Hollander's two attempts at creating a 'perfect' SOLDIER and the failures - who would later become Sephiroth's best friends. He listened as Sephiroth told him about the project being passed onto another Professor named Hojo.

He noticed the faint scowl on Sephiroth's lips as he continued to explain about how Hojo's wife offered up her unborn child and herself for experimentation. Harry had a suspicion that the child was his father - Merlin, that was odd to even think - and it was confirmed a moment later when Serphiroth grimly told him that he was the child and that his father wasn't Hojo, but his mother's Turk lover.

Sephiroth took a moment to explain to Harry what the Turks - the unofficial nickname of the Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department (alternatively, the Department of Administrative Research) - were. He then told Harry that having a Turk for a friend, or the closest thing a Turk can call a friend, was having a friend for life.

As long as you didn't turn on them, then you'd practically signed your own death warrant.

The silver-haired man's guilt was obvious as he told Harry about his father - whose name was Vincent Valentine - getting shot point-blank when he had found out about Sephiroth being his, which lead to the man falling into a coma and later used as an experiment by Hojo, which later caused Lucrecia to try and awaken Vincent by mixing Chaos-infused Mako into his blood.

Which made the man into a WEAPON for the Planet.

Sephiroth continued on to tell him about how Lucrecia, driven by loss and depression, committed suicide and how (unfortunately) Vincent awoke shortly afterwards, but that Hojo had left a handful of days beforehand, leaving behind false documents of Lucrecia and Sephiroth's 'deaths'. About how Vincent - driven by his own guilt - had locked himself away into a coffin to sleep until the man who would one day kill Sephiroth would waken him again.

"What happened to you?" Harry asked curiously.

A faint, sad smile made its way across Sephiroth's face as he told Harry about being raised in the labs in Midgar - and about Midgar and Shin-Ra themselves.

He continued on to tell Harry about Hojo's plans of a reunion between himself (Sephiroth) and Jenova, and about how the man was also under the impression that Jenova was a Cetra.

How he had been thrust into a war at a young age, where he would meet his future Commanders and best friends. He also told Harry a little about his Turk friend Tseng.

Harry listened as Sephiroth told Harry about a spar that had gotten out of hand one day, when he, Angeal and Genesis had snuck into one of the VS training rooms, and how Genesis had gotten hurt and that the wound wouldn't heal, no matter what Genesis tried. He continued to tell Harry about Degradation, how both Genesis and Angeal's dead Jenova cells were rejecting their bodies, causing their minds and bodies to degrade, sending the men into insanity.

Lips twitched upwards faintly as Sephiroth told Harry about Angeal's student, a boy named Zack Fair - nicknamed 'Puppy' - and how the boy had slowly become his friend. Sephiroth admitted to Harry that he would've ditched SOLDIER and Shin-Ra if it hadn't been for Fair stubbornly staying with the company.

Finally, Sephiroth told Harry about that fateful mission.

"We were sent to one of the reactors, one in a small town called Nibelheim, my birthplace. There, in the mansion where I had been born, I found Hojo's documentations: his lies of my birth and such…"

"It was that moment that my mind took a heavy blow… I was unstable and Jenova, who was located in the reactor we were to go to, took advantage of that and drove me insane."

Guilt showed clearly on Sephiroth's face again, "In my bout of insanity I killed nearly everyone in Nibelheim and burned the place – excluding the mansion – to the ground…"

"I went to the reactor, intending to free Jenova and I was struck by the 'Puppy'. We fought and I won, but I didn't account for the little cadet that had become one of Zack's best friends. When my attention was turned away, the cadet stabbed me in the back and tossed me into the reactor's core. It was then that Jenova took over and my mind shattered fully."

"As I have told you, five years later my mind recovered enough for Jenova to take control and I did some things that I am not proud of… But I fought her off the best I could and was able to seize control somewhat of my body, intentionally keeping her from winning."

"I was killed again and her body was destroyed… Mostly…" Sephiroth grimaced, "Two years passed and I was taken from the Lifestream again."

"Lifestream?" Harry asked before clapping his hands over his mouth, eyes widening as he realized that not only had he asked a question, but he had also interrupted Sephiroth.

Sephiroth's lips curved upwards into an amused smile. "No need to look so worried, Harry. The Lifestream is the consciousness of the Planet… I suppose you can call it Heaven, as many do. When people on Gaia die, their body and souls go to the Lifestream, while only the souls of those who die outside Gaia go."

"As I was saying… Jenova called me once more, for the final time, from the Lifestream and I once again fought for control and succeeded. I let the man kill me once more and I finally sought peace."

"But alas, those who have Jenova cells inside of them can never truly become a part of the Lifestream, thus they cannot seek out peace… Genesis and Angeal – who were killed after and before the mission to Nibelheim respectively – along with I, were given the chance to live again, to seek repentance for our sins. I accepted and was reborn as your father, Harry."

"I lived well…" Sephiroth murmured, looking away from his son as his thoughts traveled. "I had three close friends and a person to call my love… And you."

His eyes closed as he scowled. "Yet it wasn't to be. Voldemort found us and right before my death I remembered my life as Sephiroth."

"My mind, pressured by grief and a lifetime of memories that I hadn't had moments before, shattered again… It took twelve years to sort through and properly place the memories, and for that I am sorry." Green eyes opened again as Sephiroth looked at his son.

"It was shortly after my mind was in one full piece that I sought out the signatures of your and your mother's souls… I found your mother, but not yours. I asked Lily what she had done to keep you safe, and to my amusement, she had used a spell from Gaia." He chuckled faintly.

"I realized after I had asked Lily what she had done, that Dumbledore would mistake it for some sort of blood-spell and I knew then, since my three friends here – one a werewolf, unable to take you according to the law, another the one who gave us over to Voldemort, and finally my almost-brother, who would blame himself and not fight when arrested for possibly being the one to sell us out – couldn't take you, you would go to Petunia instead."

"When I realized that, I used Jenova's cells to reform my body and placed my soul inside… I was unable to come as James as he never carried her cells," he added.

"That's alright," Harry murmured, green eyes flickering up to meet the other's gaze. "You would've come sooner if you could, but you couldn't because your mind needed time to heal… If it's anyone's fault, it's Voldemort and Jenova's, not yours. Besides, you're here now, doesn't that count?"

A small smile curved Sephiroth's lips. "You've got your mother's forgiving heart as well as her eyes," he said softly, before tilting his head. "What of the people I killed during the slaughter of Nibelheim?"

"Well… As you said, you weren't in your right mind. Now that doesn't just give you a free pass, but you show regret for what you did, and you paid your price. Don't bring up who've you killed when Jenova had taken over your mind," Harry added, giving Sephiroth a glare as the man's mouth opened to ask that question.

"It wasn't you: your mind, body and skills, yes… But not you."

Sephiroth's faint smile grew a bit wider as he – albeit, slightly awkwardly – patted the top of Harry's head before changing the topic.

"Mind telling me what exactly happened that the Minister had to reassure you that you weren't expelled from Hogwarts?" A silver brow rose as a flush spread across Harry's' cheeks.

"Um… You see…" The twelve year-old – he would be thirteen in a few days though! – relayed the story of how his 'Aunt Marge' had been visiting and how he had to suffer through the days with her being at the house.

He told Sephiroth how on her last day – tonight – she had gotten rather drunk and insulted Lily and James Potter. Sephiroth's lips curved downwards as he realized that Harry had probably grown up listening to such things, like how James had been unemployed – they had been on the run for Goddess' sake! – and a drunk while Lily…

Sephiroth silently seethed – though his cold mask didn't break as Harry talked – when Harry hesitantly relayed that Marge had called Lily a bitch and implied that there was something wrong with Lily and Harry.

Harry had flushed darkly when Sephiroth started softly laughing when he had been told that Harry had accidentally lost control of his magic and had made Marge inflate like a giant balloon.

"It sounds like something my friends and I would've done," Sephiroth admitted with a hint of an amused smile on his lips. "As for losing control of your magic at an older age… It shows how powerful you really are, Harry," he praised, causing the almost-teen to blush darker.

"Why did you laugh at what Stan said about that Sirius Black?" Harry asked, quickly changing the subject while trying to subtly hide his flaming cheeks.

He had been wondering the whole trip why Sephiroth had snorted at Stan's accusations of Sirius Black being a dark wizard and in league with Voldemort.

"Ah." He blinked in slight surprise of the question. "Sirius Black… During my life as James, he was my best friend, my almost-brother." At seeing Harry's shocked look, Sephiroth continued.

"Sirius hated anything to do with his family and the Dark Arts, unless it was Defense against it. His family – and by extension through my mother, yours – was known for being a dark line. Unless Walburga, Sirius' mother, is still alive, Sirius is the last of his family carrying the Black name."

"But… Sirius… Why would he kill muggles then?" Harry was confused and Sephiroth's lips curved downwards thoughtfully.

"Of the three friends that I was close to during my time at Hogwarts, two were like brothers and the other wasn't, but still a friend nonetheless. When Lily and I went into hiding we used a charm called the Fidelius Charm," Sephiroth explained.

"The Fidelius Charm is a complicated one. It hides a secret – whether that is an item, a place or a person or something you don't want known – with a Secret Keeper. Only the Secret Keeper can tell someone the secret. Take Sirius' family's house for instance. It's hidden under the Fidelius: I cannot tell you the address as I am not the Secret Keeper, nor could you see it unless the Keeper themselves has told you or written the secret down."

"Originally Sirius, who's your Godfather actually, was supposed to host the secret, but he knew it would be obvious that he was the Keeper, as he was my almost-brother. He talked Lily and me into changing Keepers at the last minute." Sephiroth scowled.

"Since my other almost-brother was undercover at the time, we were forced to use the close friend. That little rat gave us away not even twenty-four hours later." Sephiroth's expression went blank again.

"I can only assume that Sirius went after the rat after Dumbledore hid you from everyone else. Sirius was never known for his ability to understand loss; his family is actually known for insanity… He - that boy, Stan - said he was laughing when he was found… Sirius most likely had a moment of insanity and the guilt was too much and he simply lost it."

"So… He's actually innocent?" Harry asked, his mind reeling as he tried to take in the surprising facts. Sephiroth nodded.

"The only thing Sirius has ever done that's illegal was becoming an Animagus. The rat and I did that too."

"You're an Animagus?" Harry exclaimed in surprise.

"Indeed," Sephiroth murmured, a hint of a smile on his lips. "Sirius is a large, black, Grim-like hound. The rat… I think that's explanatory. As for myself, I was a large stag."

"Wicked…" Harry said in awe. "What's a Grim?"

"A Grim is an old wives' tale, but several people actually take it seriously." Sephiroth rolled his eyes, "Grims are large black hounds that are said to be omens of Death, but that's just a tale." Sephiroth chuckled faintly before asking his next question.

"Tell me. What house are you in?" He was curious to know which his son had ended up in.

"Gryffindor," Harry answered without hesitation before adding slowly. "The hat wanted to put me in Slytherin, but I met Draco Malfoy and he acted a lot like my cousin Dudley… I didn't want to go into a house with a bully like that."

"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart." Sephiroth smiled, "And Slytherin, those who have cunning and ambition. Any of the houses would've been fine with me, but those two will always have a special spot in my heart."

"Your grandmother was a Slytherin, as were the rest of her family excluding Sirius, who was a white sheep in a black family," Sephiroth chuckled faintly, "while your grandfather was a Gryffindor, reckless and loud."

"We're not THAT loud!" Harry complained before flushing under the disbelieving stare and raised brow. "Okay. Maybe we are…" he muttered.

Sephiroth's lips quirked upwards.

"What about you? I know you were in Gryffindor, but what about now?" Harry asked curiously.

"Slytherin, most likely. Or Hufflepuff," the silverette answered after a moment's pause before asking Harry what he thought of Quidditch.

The questioning went on for hours, going between serious things as what the brunette's life at the Dursley's had been like – Harry had held back some things, Sephiroth could tell, but he wouldn't push the boy to tell him until he was ready – and what their favorite spells were or plants from Herbology, even colors.

Harry had answered the question with red within a heartbeat and when asked why, he simply shrugged. "I dunno… I really just like the color." When he had asked Sephiroth what color he liked, his father had smirked in amusement.

"My favorite color happens to be a single shade of the color I hate," he had responded. "I hate the color green except for the color of Lily's eyes. Your eyes, Harry."

The brunette's cheeks had burned again with embarrassment before he had changed the subject quickly, asking questions about his mother instead.

It was nearing three in the morning when Sephiroth had decided to call it a night, telling Harry that they would continue with the questioning tomorrow.

Harry – who felt suddenly more tired than he had all week – had opted to take a shower before bed and hesitated before entering the bathroom, only doing so after Sephiroth had reassured him that he would stay.

Which was how Harry ended up in the shower moments later, thinking over everything that Sephiroth had told him since he had left the Dursley's.

He had been embarrassed with needing reassurance that Sephiroth would still be there… But knowing his luck, the other could be gone by the time he was out of the shower, or perhaps had only been a figment of his imagination.

But Sephiroth had felt so real.

Turning off the hot water to the shower, Harry climbed out and wrapped a towel around his waist hastily before grabbing another and started to rub his hair, his pajamas lying out on the counter.

Green eyes looked at his reflection in the clouded mirror and Harry wondered what he would look like if he didn't look exactly like James Potter, but more like Sephiroth Valentine.

Giving up on his hair ever drying with his help, Harry dried himself before slipping his boxers on and then his pajamas.

He hesitated when his hand grabbed the cold knob of the door-handle. Would Sephiroth still be there? Slowly, he opened the door and stepped out into the bedroom, the towel he had attempted to dry his hair with resting on his shoulders.

Eyes scanned the room looking for a strand of silver, unable to find it before he turned to the bed and he paused, seeing Sephiroth asleep on the bed.

Harry couldn't help but stare in surprise at the sleeping man. While Sephiroth looked almost pure evil when he smirked – especially since he had those dark bags underneath his eyes, making him look even more intimidating in Harry's opinion – when he was asleep, he looked completely different.

Softer, perhaps was the word, or content, or just simply relaxed. Harry didn't know, but all three seemed to match perfectly.

Sephiroth was spread across half of the bed, long silver hair draping across him – almost like a blanket. One arm was tucked underneath his head as a make-shift pillow while the other hugged his own abdomen.

His face was free of any expression, his pale lips parted just slightly as he breathed and eyelids with dark lashes fluttered faintly against pale cheeks as he dreamed.

Silently moving to sit on the other side of the bed – trying not to disturb the bed's other occupant – Harry discarded the damp towel into the chair next to the fireplace before crawling underneath the sheets of the four-poster bed, facing the sleeping ex-General.

Settling himself as far against the other side of the bed as he could without falling off the edge of the mattress, Harry placed his glasses on the nightstand before relaxing and yawning. Green eyes blinked sleepily as the dark-haired teenager wondered how his crappy luck had given him one good thing…

If everything that Sephiroth had said was true… Then maybe… Well.

Maybe this could work.

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><p><strong><em>Hope you all liked it!<em>**

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**_~Snow._**


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